Chapter 22

Awakening

He can sense their intents, where they are planning to hit him, where they are going for their attacks, and when they are going to attack…he can sense it all. It’s a wild thought, but ever since he was hit in the head by that masked organization member earlier, he had lost his sense of purpose and just wanted to bash anything in front of him that wore a mask.

But these two…

Seeing their faces, the bulky guy having a smile and the girl with the familiar face having a tensed, sad, and lonely expression paired with anger, Siva couldn’t say the right words to describe that warm feeling.

Again, he asked himself.

Is this that ‘something’ that awakened in me?

These two…

He could only say that he was happy that there are people like them who can stand his attacks more than once without actually dying.

Normal players only knows how to dodge twice, and three times for them was already too much. Once they had released a big attack, whether it connects or not, it will render them unable to recover and give him the chance to bash them good.

But these two…he’s been fighting with them for a time now and not only they were able to dodge and react from his attacks, they were also fighters of the highest caliber he had never fought before.

Before, he could only feel this kind of excitement in the face of danger, fighting monsters and aliens.

Though so far, he only had ever fought those three armed aliens and the dog-looking blue skinned ones.

But these two…

They gave him satisfaction. That’s why when he had sensed that the large object behind them was going to crush them, he instinctively sensed that the cooldown was over and pushed them off to prolong the fight.

More.

He dearly wished.

More.

Lips formed a grin when the two poised to attack.

One last time, push me to my limits. Give that one thing I can’t seem to explain. Make me understand that feeling that was inside me. I need to fight…fight more.

“Hahahaha…”

Lowering his center of gravity, Siva used Air Jump to propel from his original position then used it again as he felt that his momentum had declined.

He used Cassius Clay’s original concept when he created the Dragunov. But the difference of the two is that since the material was from a Dragon, the number of possibilities from the properties of the material alone numbered a total of 193 possible designs with 193 different kinds of functions and Tech-Abilities.

But since most of those possible designs needed special kinds of materials like elemental stones or the use of those so called Weapon Enhancement Items that he wasn’t familiar, he settled himself on what he had.

Thus, since he was already used to the Air Shot, but is actually dissatisfied with the damage output, he then thought of another, much similar, but more dense kind of version for it. He got the idea from when he was in that death fight against the dragon. According to the Trader in Hagonoy, the dragon’s HP was still in the 50% area when it was tied and brought to him.

He was actually just lucky that whatever he did to the dragon had shaken its brain and paralyzed it, giving him the chance to tie him up good.

And yet he was already on his limit back then.

It only means that he wasn’t strong enough to cause real danger to high-ranked enemies like them. Most especially dragons.

The Air Shot’s principle of damage centers on the shock that it gives on the soft tissues of the target’s most vulnerable parts. And for the greatest effects of the blast of pressure, he uses the effects of the Killing Zone and attack them in the head to amplify damage. In which he used on its fullest potentials when he fought the dragon.

At least that’s how it worked against monsters.

For human targets, a single attack of the improved Air Shot, now Shock Blast, especially with the Killing Zone effect, and most certainly with his Double Blast, enemies around his immediate 5m radius will be taken down instantly.

That’s how powerful his Dragunov had become.

Maybe, just maybe, if he hadn’t thought of capturing the S-ranked monster Lapis Lazuli back then, maybe, he might actually had the chance to kill it.

But the battlefield that time was the sea and so he wanted to try it at least once…that technique, if it can injure an S-rank monster.

But no.

S-ranked monsters really are second to Dragons in terms of natural prowess, thus, he needed to first slow it down with simultaneous attacks, weaken it with fatigue, then ultimately attack with intent to kill.

Yet, after all that hard labor, the furthest he could go with his limited mental stamina is to stun the monster.

—Resulting to two monster pest pets in the Miranda.

Right now, as he recalled everything that had gone through until this moment, with the after effects of the overuse of that ability, his projected body, with all the pains and fatigue and injuries he had sustained, had just reached the point that he can’t think straight anymore.

He could only rely on his senses, enjoy this nostalgic feeling, and wait for the right opportune time to release the last card on his arsenal.

The Dragunov will guide him there. He believes so.

He designed this weapon to be able to go at least as far as minimizing natural movements by guiding the body towards an almost reflexive state of reaction from unprecedented attacks.

—most especially to obvious, perceptible attacks.

Because when he first thought of the idea behind the Dragunov Set, his first hand experiences on the lacking of important aspects in the Cassius Clay made him focus on three general aspects a fist weapon must have:

1. Lightweight Equipment

2. Exploitation of the material’s properties

3. Able to use consecutive attacks, if not forms or at least have more functions than just one

When he finally achieved the third aspect, he realized that he also needed to use magic, in case he got trapped on the now 10sec recharging period of his Tech Ability. And so, it was here that he incorporated and exploited the fact that in this game, they were also using the real-world’s Nano-Weapons Technology.

It means just like in real life, Nanotech Weapons’ ultra small nanobots that stick together to create the weapon and its function itself can also be used as another form of the weapon, itself. He just needed the right concept design and the right functions to combine and integrate together to create that phenomena he had in his mind.

And so with this, since he had plenty of high-grade dragon materials, he went to the Enchantment Temple to create a Tier-3 grade talisman and stored a magic spell called Telekinesis so he can control the form that was in his mind.

What he had wanted was to use the nanobots as a means of controllable formless weapon.

So for that to succeed, he added a function on the DS to be able to collapse into the nanobots form and merge again into the DS weapon form whenever needed.

At first he never knew about this junction thing but had the thought of using magic spells to do more than just attacking with them. So when he told his idea to old man Janus, he then taught Siva about the [-] symbol at the bottom of the Information Window (IW).

There was a [-] symbol at the bottom of the ability information window and Janus taught him that it can be “connected” to other function.

When he said function, he actually meant anything that has a phenomena as a result of use.

—Which pertains to abilities.

—But not tech abilities.

Turns out, everything in Terroa that has to do with functionality had that [-] symbol at the bottom of their information windows, meaning it can be used at the same time with an ability or, function —which he later learned had the proper name: Junctioning of Abilities from Rafaela.

He even discovered that there are also certain items in this world that had the [-] symbol on their IWs.

These items are categorized under “QIP Equippable Items”, items that can be used right away, like potions.

Although, not all items can be placed in the QIP.

Only those items that can be used by the players right away are allowed by the system to be placed there.

However, in Janus’ NPC Shop alone, there’s already an abundant display of these quick use items such as a flash grenade, smoke grenade, first aid pad, the one he’s familiar with —repair cube, for repairing the durability of equipment, and many more, costing more than Z200k each. It may be expensive but in terms of functionality, every Zentra spent is still worth every cent.

And the idea that made him think of the concept behind that ability that can move his body without him actually doing so emerged, thus resulting to that ability.

In the end, with all of his ideas coming into the real weapon, the Dragunov Set was finally invented.

Classified as Lvl. 1 S-ranked weapon, the DS had a “dematerialization” function in addition to its Tech-Abilities: Shock Blast and Double Blast. But there was a big problem that he discovered pertaining with this weapon. In order to use the dematerialization function, large amount of energy was needed.

And with this, as the DS’s final adjustments before Janus release it back to him, they fitted the set with a rechargeable Power Drive System.

He could have used the Tier-1 magic spell, Spark, like what Janus suggested, but upon looking around his store, and, actually recalling the list of functions from the Enchantment Temples’ available Tier-1 to Tier-2 accessories, he remembered that item, the E-grenade and that accessory, Quick Draw.

It was an item that can generate an electric field that can stun targets. Though it doesn’t have the [-] on its IW. Meaning, it can’t be junctioned.

But it doesn’t mean he can’t put it into the QIP. And even on first practice, the Power Drive System (PDS) accepted the energy from the E-grenade and this bid to the big success.

It wasn’t a cheap item though but in exchange for the MP consumed by the Spark spell and its casting time that could be used as an opening for a sneak attack, a Z200k worth item that can power up to three times of that ability isn’t a problem. After all, there was an accidental extra function of the dematerialized form that he just discovered when he fought the Lapis.

And right now, that same accidental extra function was what he’s been trying to build up since earlier.

Every time he attacked using the normal Shock Blast, he was also slowly heating up the air around him. The hotter and denser the air becomes, the better and wider the effect of that accidental function —that ability.

As he met the two and received their attacks with the same punch that released the Shock Blast on his fists, the air around the near-middle part of his arm came with a halo that disappeared at some point in his elbow.

That’s because once he had initiated the Shock Blast, the booster at the elbow part (ankle part for the legs) of his Dragunov will release a 1.7 times stronger thrust force (the same as the Shinigami’s jet engine principle) than the counter force of the Shock Blast impact to meet the target area. Dragunov’s frame stabilizes during this process and the sudden burst of speed from the tip until the elbow experiences a phenomena called Subsonic Burst —only achieved by approaching 999+kph motion speed, forming a halo of condensed air.

This air is hot and once the laser sensor at the fists (or the bladed legs) detects the impact area on that 5cm or so gap until collision, the Shock Blast releases and thus the substantial damage comes.

Along with it was the concept with the name, the shock that comes from the sharp exploding sound.

Using rocket propulsion as reference, the bigger the object that experiences the Subsonic Burst, the louder the explosion, the more powerful the shock gets. And like a twin sister, the more powerful the shock is, the more powerful the force of the attack becomes.

It was this principle that made Siva counter the giant halberd’s powerful attack or the fast, and strong slash of the Dark Spear.

Though he was bigger and heavier than the girl, the guy with the halberd was mysteriously faster. Was it that orange aura? Though no one would answer this self inquiry, and through his headache and his inverted feel of the world, somehow, thinking how everything he is seeing works is the only thing that feels pleasant.

How does that halberd do the Air Shot?

How can that Dark Spear always change its forms?

What is it made of?

Is that halberd another invention?

The time until we get crushed by the ship is less than a minute, enough time to crush it if I complete all of the necessary conditions for that…

That rock over there can help…

When he attacks, I’ll use that chance to…

That’s where I’m gonna land…

She will attack me with this…

He’ll use this…

His mind was filled with a scenarios, happenings, the things that hasn’t happened yet.

Plans. Strategies. Tactics. Tricks. Right reactions. It all converged and formed one big tangled spider web of cause and effect in his mind. He could notice every small detail of his surroundings and somehow, he could think of those small details as something to be used against these two.

The guy brandished his halberd. Siva dodged, used his hand that touched the halberd’s handle get a firm stance, and smoothly used the rock that rose up from the halberd’s impact as a panel and kicked the man on his left side.

The man groaned painfully as the attack hit and Siva proceeded to a side screw flip as the jet black blade came to slice him but missed and sliced the ground instead. The surprised girl’s eyes widened as the impossible to dodge blind side attack missed and what more, Siva stepped into the same rock again and like a runner’s pad from its angle, he jumped from it, and pitched a knee attack on the girl’s stomach.

Her feet rose up from the ground as the normal hit caused a painful sensation. Siva landed on his right leg and twisted his body, and as it seemed that he’s going for another attack, an arrow’s tip coming from his left peripheral vision caught his eye.

The recovered man converted to an archer and an arrow from the gap of her under arm was released that was aimed for his side.

Siva just slightly moved his elbow in a miraculous timing and it curved, flatly missing on his back.

He used that chance to move, grabbed the girl’s right shoulder, and used her as a stand to deliver a high kick to the surprised archer.

The shield never made it in time as Siva’s moves were so fast, it felt like lightning.

His black clad arms and legs suddenly felled in the dust of smokes and shadows, and his white sleeve polo came like a fluttering cape. The outbalanced Gonn’s face moved away as the normal kick collided with his cheek as he stepped back two steps with bleeding gums.

Siva pulled the girl who was still dizzy and she was brought down as she tumbled and watched the two men settle the score.

She had lost her strengths, she was still dizzy and all she could do right now is to notice that the shadow of the ship has gone so big, there really is no choice but to die here. Still, she watched with opened, blurry eyes as The Destroyer delivered one punch after another with his bare fists without the weapons on the staggering big lug man.